Joint Investigations
by Semper Paratus
Summary: What happens the team has to share a case with another organization and they discover that one of their own has some personal ties with the other team? Let the madness begin.
1. When Agencies Collide

Joint Investigations

Chapter 1 : When Agencies Collide

It was about as quiet as a morning gets at NCIS. Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo was playing a computer game while trying to convince his partner that wars could and should be fought through video games.

"Sure it's a nice idea, but it would never work." The Mossad officer remarked.

"And just why not? It would benefit both sides."

"Because people and countries fight in order to get the other to comply with their demands." She explained "If there was no real impact nothing would be done and they would end up physically fighting anyway."

"I guess you have a point." Tony agreed after a moment of thought.

At this point the pair realized there was someone missing from the conversation.

"What's this? No comments from the McGenius?" The senior field agent called across the bull pen.

"What?" the other man asked looking up from the palm pilot in his hand.

"Who you talking too?" Tony asked

"Nobody." McGee answered.

"Is it a girl?" badgered Tony.

"No."

"Sure it isn't." DiNozzo agreed sarcastically "Did you meet this one online too McGamer?"

Before Tim could respond Gibbs appeared.

"Gear up, we've got a case." He ordered as he retrieved his gun from his desk drawer.

As the exited he swiftly gave Tony a slap on the head.

"What was that for Boss?' he asked.

"Haven't we talked about computer games before?" the team leader asked rhetorically.

"It'll be gone by tomorrow morning."

The team was surprised when Gibbs told them all to load into the truck, but soon found out why when they arrived at the crime scene. Which was conventionally located two blocks from NCIS.

In an alley between two Navy warehouses was the body of a blonde Caucasian man in a blue uniform laying in a puddle of his own blood.

"Do we have an I.D. Duck?" Gibbs asked the M.E. as he ducked under the yellow tape.

"Military ID in his wallet says this young man is Airman First Class Eric Randall."

"Airman? As in Air Force?" Tony asked.

"That would be it." Ducky answered.

"What is a dead Airman doing on a Navy base?" Ziva wondered aloud.

"I believe that is your job to figure out." Ducky said before turning to his assistant. "Let's load him up Mr. Palmer."

"Does the Air Force even have a department that handles this type of thing?" McGee asked as he took pictures.

"If they do they're going to have to share." Gibbs answered.

This is my first NCIS fic so leave me a review and let me know what you think!!


	2. Learning to Share

Joint Investigations

Chapter 2: Learning to Share

As of the next morning the team was able to assume two things about A1C Randall's death. One was that he had been shot four times and two that the killer had left no obvious signs of himself.

This did not make Special Agent Gibbs happy. But what made him even less happy was a phone call he got from Security Forces at Bolling Air Force Base requesting that he let one of their officers in on the investigation. After some input from the director there was no way he could say no. So now he watched from the second floor and waited for the officer to arrive.

"Excuse me, I'm 1st Lieutenant Kelly I was told this is where I could find Special Agent Gibbs." Stated a blonde woman in Air Force blues.

"Yeah he's-" McGee started t answer but stopped as he looked up at the woman. "Natasha?!"

"Tim? You're an NCIS agent?" she asked in equal shock.

"I know I wouldn't have believed it either." Added Tony as he entered the bullpen. "Hi I'm Agent Anthony DiNozzo but you can call me Tony, Miss?" he asked offering his hand.

"Lieutenant Natasha Kelly." She answered, shaking his hand.

"A pretty name for a pretty girl." He replied with a charming smile.

"Are you being paid to flirt DiNozzo?" asked Gibbs from behind him.

"Unfortunately no."

"Then get to work." He said before rounding his attention on the woman. "What exactly are you here for Lieutenant?"

"Since your victim was an Airman the Air Force would like to be included in the investigation as much as possible, but respects that the crime occurred under NCIS jurisdiction." she explained professionally "Therefore we are requesting a joint investigation."

"How many Air Force personnel are we talking?"

"Just one unless you request more." She answered without missing a beat.

"Then a joint investigation it is." Gibbs said "Let's head downstairs and get the ME's report."

"I've got it right here." Ziva called as she rounded the corner.

She laid the file open on a desk and the four agents and the lieutenant gathered around to read it.

"It just confirms our assumptions." McGee said, leaning back in his chair.

"Cause of death was four 9mm shots to the chest." Read Officer David.

"Who ever did this was a good shot." Tony pointed out. "All four shots are clumped together in the center of the chest."

"We're dealing with some one with proper training." Gibbs said. "I'm going to go see if Abby has anything for us. Let's go Lieutenant."

Natasha nodded and followed him.

As soon as the elevator doors closed Tony perched himself on the edge of Tim's desk.

"So is that the girl you were texting yesterday?"

"No."

"He's lying." Injected Ziva. "He looked down and to the left."

Tony smirked. "I want answers Probie."

The younger man sighed. "Yes ok?"

"How long have you known her and how does a techie like you meet a girl like that?" he demanded.

"Two weeks ago. I was at the mall in Georgetown and there was a DDR competition going on. I stopped for a minute to watch and we started talking." He explained.

"DDR?" Tony laughed "Does she play?"

"I don't know. We've just had coffee a couple of times; I didn't even know she was in the Air Force."

At this point Tony paused to explain to Ziva that this DDR had nothing to do with Germany and McGee made his escape to the elevator.

Yeah I know Dance Dance Revolution in an NCIS fic very random but I thought it would add a bit of humor. As for the Germany thing you'll have to look it up because I'm too lazy to explain it now, but I promise I didn't make it up.

Thank you to everyone who left a review and put this story on their alert list!

I have a large portion of the next chapter written out and reviews encourage me to write more!!

Thanks again!

*~*Semper*~*


	3. Occupational Hazards

Joint Investigations

Chapter 3: Occupational Hazards

"I want you and Lt. Kelly to go through every bit of this guy's life and figure out why someone would kill him." Ordered Gibbs shortly after McGee had entered the lab.

"On it Boss." He answered as the other agent exited the room.

"Hey" he greeted nervously as he turned to his new partner.

"Hey yourself." She replied giving his hand a light squeeze.

Ok so Tim hadn't told Tony the whole truth about himself and the Air Force officer. He had met Natasha as t the mall and they had gone out for coffee a couple times. And dinner and a movie or two, but as odd as it might sound neither of them had ever brought up their occupation.

"I'm really really sorry Tim." She said seriously, her light green eyes meeting his.

"You don't have to apologize to me Tasha."

"No I do." She corrected sternly. "If we intend to have a serious relationship I need to know that you trust me. I never told you about my job because I was afraid it might scare you off."

"How so?" he asked, trying to lighten the tense mood of the conversation.

"Well the first thing would be that I work in law enforcement, but I guess that you can handle that one." She explained with a soft smile. "But there's also the fact that I am in the military which means I could be transferred or deployed at any time."

"I never told you I work for NCIS because that would have lead to me having to explain that I work extreme hours and frequently get shot at."

There was a moment of silence as the both thought about what the other had said.

"But if you can look past the fact that I'm not exactly good boyfriend material I'll tell you right now that I find your career choice more of an attraction than a repellant." He said meeting her gaze.

"You're perfectly good boyfriend material." She replied as she intertwined her fingers with his.

"And for the record I trust you with my life."

The two had sub-consciously moved closer, but quickly stepped back when Abby entered the lab.

"Hey Tim did you-did I interrupt something?" she asked suspiciously at seeing their closeness.

"Not at all." Tim answered calmly. "Abby this is Tasha, excuse me Lt. Kelly."

"You can call me Tasha." The Lieutenant amended with a smile as she shook the forensic expert's hand.

"Nice to meet you." Abby said returning the smile. "Now we have a murder to solve."

I apologize for the personality butchering I think I did in this chapter. It'll probably undergo some tweaking unless I'm convinced otherwise.

Anyway I've started the fourth chapter and hope to have it up before I have to go back to school on Tuesday. Reviews are my inspiration so if you read please let me know what you think!!!


	4. Home 0 Guests 2

Joint Investigations

Chapter 4: Home – 0, Guests – 2

Four hours and countless cups of coffee and Caf-Pow later the only conclusion the three could come to was that Airman Randall had been murdered by the librarian he failed to return a book to his junior year of high school.

Besides that minor blemish his records were squeaky clean. He had grown up in a low income family, enlisted into the Air Force right out of high school, and graduated from his Tech school at the top of his class. The twenty year old had never even gotten a parking ticket.

They were about to call it quits for the night when Tim's phone rang. Within seconds of hanging up he had said a hurried good bye to Abby and drug Tasha into the elevator.

"Tim what is going on?" she demanded as she straightened her uniform.

"That was Gibbs, he says there's been another murder." He explained as the elevator chimed to alter them they had reached their floor. "It was almost identical to the last one."

"The victim's name is Navy Lt. Dale Williams." Gibbs explained as his team assembled. "I want all of you to do a full check on this guy and compare it to Airman Randall. I want to know why they hell someone is killing these men!"

Two pages into Lieutenant Williams' service record Tasha found a connection

"Sea-Bat"

"What?" Gibbs asked looking at the Lieutenant like she had lost her mind.

"It was a low profile high security Navy sonar project and it's the common dominator between A1C Randall and Lt. Williams." She answered. "Its case name for the project was Sea-Bat."

"I get it! That's clever." laughed Tony until a look from Gibbs sobered him up.

"Good work Lt." Gibbs praised " McGee pull up a list of all personnel involved with this project on the plasma now."

"On it." He replied and less than thirty seconds later the names and faces of the listed personnel appeared on the screen.

"Eliminate the victims." The team leader ordered.

"That leaves us with four people." Tim reported. "The Navy was playing this one close and keeping the personnel numbers to a minimum, in their reports at least."

"Then how did the flyboy get in on the fun?" Tony questioned.

"The file says he was involved in adapting the technology to allow planes to detect subs."

"Who are the four remaining people and their locations?"

"Capt. Hughes was the commander; he was killed last month by an IED in Afghanistan." Tim said as he removed the man from the list. "Ensign Grafton was an engineer has since been transferred to Pearl Harbor."

"Shall I call and have him taken into protective custody?" Ziva suggested.

"Yeah and tell them not to let him out of their sight tell we catch whoever is doing this."

"The last two were Petty Officer 1st Class Wayne who works on base and 1st Lt.- "

Tim stopped reading and three head snapped I the direction of the blonde woman who looked equally as shocked.

"Why didn't you tell me you were involved with this project?" demanded a pissed off looking Agent Gibbs.

"I didn't know." Defended the Lieutenant, eyes still wide with shock.

"What do you mean you didn't know?" the Agent growled his voice rising in volume.

"Look agent Gibbs, I work for the military." She said fiercely. "Most of the time I get assignments to protect someone or something that I know nothing about. I just follow orders."

This seemed to convince Gibbs.

"Until we put whoever is doing this away you're under NCIS protective custody."

"This is unnecessary I can –"

"Protect yourself?" he questioned. "Are you bullet-proof? I'm not letting this wacko kill anyone else under my jurisdiction."

This time there were no protests.

"Tony and Ziva I want you to track down that Petty Officer. McGee you're taking care of Lt. Kelly. I want you to take her to get what she needs and then go to your apartment and stay there till I say otherwise."

"I wouldn't make yourself too memorable with McGeek there Natasha." Tony suggested as he stood to leave. "Or you just might end up in his next novel."

She looked at Tim who sigh and gave her a silent promise or a later explanation.

Good? Bad? Ugly? Let me know what you know what you think! I go back to school tomorrow so my updates way be spaced a bit more.

Thanks for reading!

*~*Semper*~*


	5. Evening of Surprises

Joint Investigations

Chapter 5: Evening of Surprises

After stopping at Tasha's apartment and the nearest Chinese restaurant for take out, Tim drove around aimlessly to make sure they weren't being followed before heading home.

"There's only one bedroom so I'll sleep in the living room." He said as he sat the brown paper bag of food down on the kitchen table.

"Tim you don't have to do that it's your house."

"No I insist."

"Then how about we share it" she compromised with a slight smirk. "I trust you."

"T-that could work." He stuttered out of surprise. "Now let's eat."

Not two minutes into their meal Tim's phone rang. It was Ziva letting them know that the killer had beaten them to Petty Officer Wayne.

They both lost their appetites as Tim hung up.

"If someone had made the connection sooner we could have saved him." Tasha said as she sat on the couch, her face in her hands.

"You can't blame yourself; there's no way you could have known." He reasoned as he sat beside her.

"I know but I can't help it."

"I know." He said softly while wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

She leaned into him and they stayed like that for a while, both lost in their own thoughts.

Half an hour later she was snuggled against him on the bed thumbing through a copy of his first book.

"You base your characters on your team at NCIS don't you?"

"How'd you know that?" he asked surprised that she figured that out.

"Lets just say you work with some people with very recognizable personalities." She explained. "And the names helped too."

"You picked up fast." Tim complemented looking down to meeting her eyes.

"Well I hang around some pretty smart people." She replied smiling back up at him. "You know this would be almost romantic if we weren't hiding from a crazed serial killer."

"That is a bit of a mood killer." He said smiling.

"Yeah" she laughed in agreement.

"But then again it may be some what save-able." He said before leaning down to gently press his lips to hers.

She froze in shock for a moment before kissing him back.

"Thank you for everything." She said after the realized that oxygen was necessary.

"Anytime, I just hope next time you stay over isn't for your own safety."

They continued to sit in companionable silence until he noticed that she had fallen asleep.

Tim carefully moved her to the space next to him a kissed her forehead before turning out the lights. Sure this wasn't the way he had thought their relationship would go but if she liked him enough to kiss him back he wasn't complaining.

They awoke the next morning to the ringing of Tim's cell. He reached for it while seriously considering throwing it against the wall; it seemed to be the bearer of bad news in mechanical form.

"McGee." He answered unenthusiastically.

"Me, Tony, and Ziva are going to be there in half an hour to discuss our next move." Gibbs explained before hanging up without another word.

Not even fifteen minutes later there was a knock at the door.

"Sorry we're early Probie." Tony said as they filed through the door. "The Boss let Ziva drive and well you should be able to figure it out from there."

"So how are we going to catch this guy?" Agent Gibbs asked after they were all seated in the living room.

"We need to lure him out." Tasha replied confidently.

"And how exactly are we supposed to do that?"

"That's were I come in handy."

"We're not using you as bait." Tim interrupted.

"It sounds like you've put some thought into this." Gibbs said ignoring McGee. "What's your plan?"

"By what we've seen this guy is patient. He waits till his victims are alone which probably means he's not interested in hurting anyone but his intended target." She explained. "So I just need to go about my daily life, with the exception of a protection team, until he strikes."

They room was silent for a moment.

"I'll give you five days." Gibbs said "Under the agreement that you follow every order I give."

"Agreed."

"Well that was quickly settled." Tony said happily "Can I go get some sleep now boss?"

"Yeah you and Ziva can go home; I want everyone in the office by 08:00 tomorrow. Gibbs ordered as he also stood to leave.

"What were you up to all night?" Tasha asked.

"Keeping an eye out for trouble, we wouldn't want McGee to get to have all the fun would we?" Tony answered with a smile.

"Thanks." She said as they left.

"I really wish you hadn't agreed with that." Tim said with a sigh as the door closed.

"It'll be just fine." She assured wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I guess I'm just going to have to trust you." He replied pulling her closer.


	6. Hiding in Plain Sight

Joint Investigations

Chapter 6: Hiding in Plain Sight

"Air Force Barbie's gone casual, I like it." Tony commented as Tasha and Tim entered the bull pen at the instructed time.

"Ignore him." Added Ziva. "He is just jealous because he cannot keep a steady girlfriend."

"I could." DiNozzo defended "I just chose not to."

"Right." Tim said with a smirk.

The three had a laugh at Tony's expense that was cut short by the sound of an angry someone clearing their throat.

"If you are all done acting like you're still in high school we have a case to solve." Gibbs said with a look that dared them to disagree. When no one did he continued. "After much deliberation between the director, the Air Force, and myself we've come up with a plan that everyone is going to have to live with. McGee and Lt. Kelly are taking some leave time and DiNozzo and David are going undercover."

"Is anyone else lost?" Tony asked.

"While those two are spending as much time as possible in public you tow are going to tail them." Gibbs explained "If this guy is able to get his targets while they're alone he must be watching them."

"This could work except for if she is with McGee she is not really alone." Ziva observed.

"He's sticking with her until we figure out who this guy is. We'll give him some time to show us his face and then we'll get him. But we can't make it known that those two are being tailed"

"Then me and Ziva will go dig up some equipment." Tony said before departing with his partner on his tail.

"What can we do Boss?" Tim asked, not wanting to be useless.

"Fill up your social calendar for the next few days." He called as he exited the bull pen, coffee cup in hand.

"He has a point. Knowing what we're doing ahead of time would help Tony and Ziva."

"Then why don't we plan ourselves a few dates?" she suggested with a smile.

It wasn't until he pulled a planner out of his desk that she realized the date.

"Oh no." she groaned.

"What's wrong?" he asked, slightly alarmed.

"My brother is coming to visit in two days." She sighed. "That's the last thing I need while we have a serial killer on the loose."

"I'm sure he'll be safe." He assured.

"That's the least of my worries."

"Whatever the problem we can handle it." He promised, covering her hand with one of his own.

She could help but smile at his use of the word we.

By the time Tony and Ziva returned the two had planned a day of public outings for the next day.

"We're having a pre-mission briefing tomorrow at 09:00." Gibbs said, reappearing. "The rest of the day is yours but you two," he pointed at Tim and Tasha "are to stick together."

"Right." Said Tim responded as Tasha nodded.

"So what would you like to do for the rest of the day?" Tim asked taking hold of one of her hands as the crossed the parking lot.

"I have to go by the base to sign off on my leave paperwork, but after that we can do whatever you want." She answered with a smile.

"Sounds good." He said returning her smile with one of his own.

When they pulled up to the gates to Bolling Air Force Base Tasha flashed credentials they were waved through.

Tim was interrogated by a few of Tasha's co-workers while she took care of her paperwork.

"Are you being nice?" she questioned playfully when she returned.

"Aren't we always?" retorted a Lieutenant Colonel whose name tag read Marshall.

She laughed. "Tim this is my commanding officer Lt. Col. Marshall."

"Nice to meet you." The officer said offering his hand.

"You too." Tim said shaking his hand.

"Make sure you take care of her." Marshall said. "She's the only one who makes sure things get done around here."

"Will do sir." He responded.

"So have you figured out how we're spending the rest of the day?" she asked as they were heading back to his apartment.

"I was thinking since we'll be spending a lot of time in public in the next few days why don't we have some private time, maybe popcorn and a movie?" he asked.

"Sounds perfect."

Good? Bad? Let me know what you think!

I'm sorry it took me so long to update, did I mention before I'm in Air Force Jr. ROTC? I was promoted to 2nd Lt. halfway through January, which means I'm now in charge of a department and like eleven people, and no I have virtually no free time. And when I did have free time I was worried about other things. If anyone wants to add me on Facebook (which I am addicted to) so you can give me a kick in the butt when I'm taking to long to update, let me know and I'll give you my info. Anyway I'm ranting again, please review!!!

~Semper


	7. Day One

Joint Investigations

Chapter 7: Day 1

"Here we go." Tim remarked as he and Tasha stepped into the elevator, having a feeling of déjà vu from the day before.

"Everything will be just fine." She assured him, her hand finding its way into his.

He couldn't help but smirk at the irony; the woman was in danger of being killed by a mad man and she was reassuring him.

"You can laugh now but you'll see." She said before giving him a quick peck on the cheek as the doors slid open.

________________________________________________________________________

"Have a nice night Probie?" Tony asked suggestively while Gibbs held Tasha's attention. He was sure that the Air Force officer wasn't nearly as dangerous as Ziva but he wasn't about to test his luck.

"Actually I did." Tim answered with a smirk. Even though he knew Tony was hinting at another type of nice night, Tim decided to play along while thinking back to the pervious they left the base they went back to his apartment for dinner and a movie. He had spent most of the movie watching her. She just amazed him; she was smart, beautiful, fearless, funny, and she actually wanted to be with him. At one point she had met his gaze and asked what was so interesting and he surprised both of them by answering her with a kiss. It wasn't too bad to wake up with an angel like that in his arms either.

Tony, for perhaps the first time, didn't have witty comeback. He just sat there scanning for signs that the junior field agent was lying, he was disappointed.

He was spared from the shame of Tim pointing this out by Gibbs calling their little meeting to order.

"Alright this is the basic outline of today's schedule" Gibbs said handing a piece of paper to Ziva. "Minor detours are fine but let's try to stick to it as much as possible."

"A book store? The mall?" Tony asked, reading over Ziva's shoulder. "You're kidding me right?"

"We're trying to stick to Tasha's usual habits as much as possible." Tim explained.

"You're watching for suspicious persons, especially ones you see in more than one place." Gibbs told them. "Tony and Ziva, if you see any one fitting that category I want you to make sure you get a good picture of him, but what ever you do don't blow your cover! That goes for the other two as well; I don't want you to even mention the case understood?"

They all nodded.

"Good, now get to work."

"Ugh this is making me sick." Tony groaned, he had spent the last three hours following those two all over Georgetown and their lovey dovey-ness was making him nauseous.

"I think they look cute." Ziva said from her seat next to him. They had stopped for lunch and the couple they were tailing had spent most of the meal giving each other meaningful glances and sweet little smiles.

"You would." Tony mumbled under his breath.

Unfortunately for him he hadn't thought of who he was talking too. "Because I'm a woman?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"No because..uh..Subjects on the move!" he announced, saved from answering when Tim and Tasha stood up to leave.

"Wait Tony at 1 O'clock, haven't we seen that guy before?"

"Yeah he was in the book store, I remember him because I glanced in his direction and he suddenly became very interested in a _My Little Pony_ book."

"I saw him outside a few of the stores at the mall."

"I think we just might have found our man Ziva." Tony grinned.

"Yes, but does it not seem a little too easy?"

Tony shrugged "Maybe he's just really bad at following people."

She just quickly snapped a picture of their suspect with her phone and sent it to Gibbs.

A few hours later the team met up at NCIS to review the day's events.

"Lt. Kelly do you know this man" Gibbs asked pointing to the picture Ziva took at the restaurant.

"No I can't say that I ever see him before." She answered.

"Then I think we have a suspect." Gibbs replied "He followed you all day."

"So what do we do now?" Tasha questioned.

"We can't arrest him simply because he was following you; we have to what for him to make a move." Tony answered

As a trained investigator she didn't have to ask what that meant. He would have to do something that showed he meant her harm before they could do anything to him.

To be perfectly honest this scared her but she wasn't about to let Tim know that.

"Tomorrow you two are meeting up with your brother right?"

She nodded.

"Then I'm sure you know that you can't reveal any information to him, we have no reason to believe that he will be targeted but if you don't feel comfortable placing him in this situation I suggest you cancel now." Gibbs explained.

"No that might tip him off." Tasha said. "If he's been following me like we think he has I'm sure he's heard me mention that I was having lunch with Mark. I don't want to risk losing a chance to catch this guy."

"It's your call." Gibbs said while placing his SIG into the top drawer of his desk. "Unless anyone has anything too add, be in position tomorrow no later than 011:30."

Wow, sorry its been so long since I lasted updated. Between school, getting grounded from the computer for two weeks, and my Facebook addiction I've been a bit slow in the updating thing but I promise it should only get better from here on out. I pretty much have the rest of the series planned out and have been brained storming on a sequel. Please review and let me know what you think!!!

~Semper


	8. To Catch A Killer

Joint Investigstions

Chapter 8: To Catch A Killer

"So there are a few things you should probably know about my brother." Tasha started as the two sat once again on Tim's living room couch.

Tim meet her gaze to show that she had his full attention and she continued. "Even though we've been denying it our entire lives, we're twins."

An amused look came over his face as he tried to picture her brother.

"In our case that just means we share a birthday." she said knowing exactly what he was thinking. "We're a backwards family, Mark took after mom, while I'm more like dad. Dad enlisted in the Air Force out of high school, but Mark had to be different. I think he got his letter from Annapolis two weeks after I got into the Air Force Academy."

"Wait so your brother is in the Navy?" Tim questioned, unable to hold back a grin.

"Don't tell him that." she said, rolling her eyes. "He commissioned into the Marine Corps. He's an explosive ordnance disposal officer."

"You guys seem to have a thing for exciting jobs." he commented, more to himself than Tasha, with a distant look in his eyes.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the feeling of Tasha's hand against the side of his face.

"You're wrong." she said gently, not moving her hand.

"About what?"

"You're thinking that because your job and interests are so much different that you won't get along with my brother." She said, hitting the nail right on the head.

"Or your father." he added.

"They'll think you're great." she promised "Just like I do."

He smiled at this and leaned over to press his lips to hers.

She smiled as they pulled apart. "My dad worked in logistics, and besides you're just meeting Mark tomorrow."

"I'm worrying too much aren't I?" he questioned, grinning sheepishly.

"Maybe a little." she answered as she ran her hand through his hair before patting him gently on the cheek. "But it's cute."

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tasha heard Tim take a deep breath as they sat at their table waiting for Mark.

"He's not going to kill you I promise." she teased softly, placing a comforting hand on his knee.

He smiled at her, squeezing her hand between his two larger ones, before opening his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by another voice.

"If you two are going to sit there and make eyes at each other the whole time I'm gonna be sick." said Tony's voice from their earpieces.

The two immediately jumped apart only to be teased again.

"It's about time you noticed I was here." joked a dirty blond with the same sea green eyes as Tasha.

"Like you could stand there very long without saying anything, Mark." Tasha joked back.

"You must be Tommy." Mark said with a grin, offering his hand.

"Actually it's Tim." the agent answered, shaking Mark's hand.

"He knew that." Tasha said giving her brother a warning look. "I'd watch what you say Mark, Tim here is with NCIS."

"Cool, now I know who to call next time I get in trouble." Mark smirked.

Tasha rolled her eyes.

Their waitress chose then to appear and the teasing ceased for the time being.

Tasha silently admired they way Mark and Tim were getting along.

Her thoughts were then interrupted by Tony's voice in her earpiece. After some of the comments he had made through their lunch she was tempted to ignore him but the phrase "Bogie approaching the table." caught her attention.

Her head snapped up and she meet the eyes of a dark haired man in a brown t-shirt tucked into a pair of BDU pants.

"Air Force Lieutenant Natasha Kelly?" he inquired.

"Yes?" she asked, her hand grasping the handgun hidden under her jacket.

Like lightning he drew a pistol from the deep pocket of his pants.

"Get down!" Tim shouted as he and Mark quickly grasped the situation; with out event thinking about it he put himself between Tasha and the gunman.

Then as quickly as he had appeared, the man turned and bolted towards the front door, narrowly dodging Gibbs who tried to grab him but had to dodge a chair that the man threw at him on his way out the door.

Tim jumped up to follow Gibbs and Ziva out the door, and Tasha headed in that direction.

"Let us take this direction, you go cover the back." Tony ordered before cutting their communication line.

"Got it." she muttered as she sprinted through the cafe full of confused and scared diners and through the back door.

As she reached the ally behind the building her search for the gunman was interrupted be a sharp blow to the head that sent her to her knees.

"I was hoping you'd be the one to come through this door."

~ Here's an update! Sorry it took so long, I've been busy job hunting...anyway please review, they inspire me to write! ~


	9. Four Letter Words

Joint Investigations

Chapter 9: Four Letter Words

"I was hoping you'd be the one to come through that door." said a cold male voice, as Tasha's sidearm was roughly kicked from her hands.

Instantly her training kicked in, as she jumped to her feet to take on her attacker but the sight of a 9mm barrel pointed right between her eyes stopped her in her tracks.

The hand holding the gun belonged to a brown haired man, who appeared to be in his early thirties if not late twenties. His expression was blank and his dark eyes looked very calm. This frightened the Lieutenant even more.

"Scream or try to run and I'll make this much more painful than it needs to be." her attacker hissed as he stepped onto her earwig which had fallen out of her ear when she was knocked to the ground.

"Why are you doing this?" Tasha said taking a couple steps back. "Why are you killing everyone involved with the Sea-Bat project?"

"You must be a good investigator to have figured that one out." he siad almost tauntingly. "When you give as much of your life to your country as I have you begin to understand whats important in life; that sonar testing was killing whales."

If it wasn't for the fact that she was backed into a corner by a homicidal maniac with a loaded gun Tasha would have found that extremely funny. But now was not the time for laughter.

"What does killing the people involved accomplish?" Tasha tried to reason with her attacker. "The project is complete, we have nothing to do with it any more."

"You were one of them." he growled. "You wouldn't understand."

"Freeze and drop the weapon!" shouted a male voice.

The man grabbed Tasha and pulled her closer, pointing his firearm at her head as he turned them to face her would be savior.

"Let her go and drop the weapon!" commanded Tim.

"How about you drop your's before I blow her pretty little face off." The man hissed.

Tim hesitated for a breif moment to gage the seriousness of the man's threat before raising one hand above his head and slowly lowering his weapon towards the ground.

Instantly Tasha knew she had to do something; even if he killed her there was no guarentee that the bastard wouldn't hurt Tim. And what ever she did she had to do it before he placed his Sig onto the pavement.

With as much force as she could muster she threw herself into her attacker, throwing him off balance, as she silently prayed that the movement didn't cause him to clench his fingers and pull the trigger.

Two shots rang out in the ally.

For the second time that day Tasha felt a signifigant pain in her head. But pian was good, pain meant that she was still alive.

By some grace of God she had manged to avoid being hit by the bullet that was fired from the man's gun as he fell. Unfortunatley for him he was unable to dodge the second bullet that was fired from Tim's Sig.

"Tasha!" Tim called as he pulled up to where she was leaning against him.

"What just happened?" she asked feeling slightly dizzy.

"Well I think you just scared the shit out of McGoo." said Tony.

_When did he get here?_ she wondered

Tim didn't even seem to notice he was there as he all but interagated Tasha. "Are you alright? Did he hurt you in anyway? The paramedics are on the way."

"Tim!" she exclaimed. "There's nothing wrong with me that a couple of asprin won't fix."

"I'm sorry." he said grinning sheepishly as he helped her to her feet and started to walk towards the street entrance of the ally. "You really had me worried."

"I'm sorry I worried you." she replied with a grin of her own as she reached up to kiss him.

He gladly met her in the middle.

"I love you." he said with out thought as their lips parted; shocked at his sudden confession.

"I love you too." she said much to his relief before leaning in for another kiss, with a smile bright enough to rival his own.

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This is the second to last chapter, and boy has it been a ride! Please review and let me know what you think! Hopefully the tenth and final chapter will be up soon.

~Semper


	10. All's Well that Ends Well

Joint Investigations: All's Well that Ends Well

"The hospital just called." Gibbs announced as he entered the squad room. "Our shooter pulled through surgery and is stable."

Tasha shifted in here spot on Tim's lap so she could see his face, which was brightened by a smile. She knew their current position was highly unprofessional but Tim had refused to let go of her since the incident in the alley, and the truth was she wasn't about to argue with him.

"Way to go McSniper." Tony actually complimented. "You took down a Navy SEAL without actually killing him."

"Which means he will be able to stand trial." Ziva smiled.

Tasha squeezed Tim's hand. It turned out that formed Petty Officer Second Class Hank Logan had been dishonorably discharged from the Navy for insubordination and had since become an eco-terrorist of sorts. After hearing that the military's latest sonar project could possibly be harming whales in the Atlantic he took it upon himself to end it.

"Good work Tim." Gibbs said, handing out one of his coveted complements. "All of you go home, get some rest."

No one argued with that order as they said their assorted goodbyes. They knew that the next time they came into the office Tasha wouldn't be with them but they also knew that they'd be seeing a lot of her if McGee had anything to say about it.

"You know I don't think I ever thanked you properly for saving me." Tasha said with a small smile as she and Tim exited the elevator on the ground floor.

"We've got plenty of time for that." he said with a smile, pulling her closer as they walked out of the building.

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Well that is the end. Good? Bad? Ugly? Please let me know what you think, I've thought of a sequel but I don't want to spend time on something that no one is interested in reading.

Thanks for reading!!!

~Semper


	11. Author Update!

Author's Note:

At long last I have finally managed to complete the first chapter of the sequel to Joint Investigations. So if you're interested please check out Letters from Baghdad and let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading!

~ Semper


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